conklin



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

E; L. GONKLIN. FEEDER EoE GRINDING MILLS.

No. 364,485. Patented June '7; 1887.

WITNESSES I N VEJVTOR N. PETERS PMWLNMIHPNG Walhmiim. D. C.

(No Model.)

, 3 Sheets-Shet 2. E. L. CONKLIN.

FEEDER EOE GRINDING MILLS.

Patented June '7, 1887.

N PETERS, Fho'oLflhognpher. W: hinglon, D. C.

L. CONKLIN. FEEDER FOR GRINDING MILLS.

3 'Sheets-Sh eet 3.

(No Model.)

atented June '7 1887.

who) mm WITNESSES 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELGIN L. CONKLIN, OF CORNING, NEW YORK.

FEEDER FOR GRINDINQ-MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,485, dated June'l, 1887.

Application filed September 10, 1886. Serial No. 213,227. (No model.)

'To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELGIN L. CONKLIN, of Corning, in the county of Steuben and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeders for Roller-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in whi cl1---v Figure 1 is a side view of my improved feeder for roller-mills,middlingspurifiers, and other similar machines, showing it applied to a roller-mill. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 is a similar view looking in the opposite direction, the section being taken on line a: 00, Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a top view, the cover being removed.

Similar numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation to that class of feeders for roller mills or similar machinery for the manufacture of flour in which the grain or middlings are fed between two rollers, one of which is jourrraled in yielding bearings; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of such a feeder, in which one roller travels with a greater velocity than the other, drawing the grain or middliugs between the rollers, and having means for regulating the space between the rollers automatically, according to the quantity of grain or middlingseontained in the feed'hopp In the accompanying drawings, the numerals 1 1 indicate the side pieces of the feedercasing, and 2 2 indicate the end pieces, one of which-which I shall term the forward end piece-is inclined, the said end piece being at one end of the casing when the feeder is used in a double roller-mill, while the other end piece will form the partition between the two casings, the drawings onlyillustrating the feeder as applied to a mill having one set of rollers.

An inclined board, 3, is secured in the easing, converging with its lower edge toward the lower edge of the inclined end piece, a

space being left between the lower edges of the two inclined boards, and a regulating-slide, 4, has its ends sliding in grooves 5 in the side of the casing,parallel to and upon the face of the lower end of the inclined end piece, 2. This slide is formed with a suitable shank, 6,which is preferably eogged,and has a pinion,7,meshing with it, the pinion being secured upon a shaft, 8, having a hand-wheel, 9, for turning it, and a suitable catch, 10, for holding it in its adjusted position, although it follows that any other means for adjusting the slide may be used, the slide forming no part of my invention.

The shaftll of a transverse roller, 12, is jou r naled in hearings in the lower end of the easing immediately under the aperture between the lower edges of the inclined board 3 and end piece, 2, and bears with its periphery against the lower edge of the said board 3. This shaft receives its rotary motion from the mechanism of the mill, having preferably a suitable pulley, 13, or other gear'wheel upon it, and besides this gear-wheel said shaft is provided with a pinion, 14, having long cogs, which mesh with a similar pinion, 15, upon the end of the shaft of a parallel roller, 16, of a smaller diameter than the other roller. The shaft of this roller ldisjournaledin bear-. ings in the lower ends oftwo arms, 18, pivoted with their upper perforated ends upon the ends of a transverse rock-shaft, 19, journaled in bearings 20 in the side piecesof the casing near the outer end piece. This rock-shaft is provided at its ends with two forward and downward curved arms, 21, the lower ends of which are provided with perforations 22, through which the outer screw-threaded ends, 23, of two rods, 24, pass, the said rods being pivoted at their inner ends above the hearings in the depending arms, and having springs 25 coiled around them, bearing against the de pending arms and against the eyes of the curved arms, and having thumb-nuts 26 upon their outer screw-threaded ends, bearing against the eyes of the curved arms.

The rock-shaft is provided inside of the cas ing with two upwardly-projecting arms, 27, having rods 28 pivoted to their upper ends and passing through perforations 29 in the inclined outer end piece of the casing; and

these rods have springs coiled around them, bearing with theirinner ends against the outer side of the end piece and with their outerends against thumb-nuts 3i, fitting upon the screwthreaded outer ends, 32, of the rods.

Secured to the rock-shaft 19 are two arms, 33, to the rear upwardly-bent ends of which is secured the plate or weighpan 34, having upturned edges 35, except upon its lower edge. If desired, the shield 36 can be secured to the sides of the casing, which will project over the edges of the pan and prevent the grain from getting behind it. I

At the lower edge of the forward end piece, 2, of the casing, a plate, 37, is secured, the lower edge of which bears against the top of the small roller 16, preventing the grain from escaping over that roller without passing between it and the other roller, and also preventing fiour, meal, or other material that is being fed from clogging the rollers. The lower edge of this plate is provided with a flange, 38, to give it sufficientstrength to keep it from bending at its middle portion.

The entire casing is placed, with the rollers, and the aperture in the hopper formed by the side pieces of the casing and by the inclined boards over the feedaperturc of the mill-casing 39, so that grain may fall in a continuous stream between the rollers; and the casing is placed in a similar position above the portions of the machine to which the contents of the hopper are to be fed, when the feeder is used in connection with a middlings-purifier or flour-mixer, or other machine used in the manufacture of flour.

It will now be seen that when the grain or other material is fed into the feeder it will fill the pan 34 and force it down toward the inclined board 3, which will cause the shaft 19 to be rocked in its bearings, which in turn will draw the roller 16 away from the roller 12 by means of the curved arms 21 and rods 24. This will allow the stream of grain,which passes freely through the feedaperture from the filled hopper, to pass freely and in a continuous stream between the feed-rollers, the stream being continuous and even on account of the hopper being filled and on account of the weight of the grain forcing the grain below out at all points; but as the hopper becomes empty the plate will be raised by the action of the springs upon the rodspassing through the end piece of the casing, and the rollers will gradually be forced closer together, causing them to spread the stream of grain evenly over their entire surfaces, and causing the larger roller to feed the grain with-greater power, the roller getting a better hold upon the grain now than when the rollers were farther apart and the slower-revolvin g roller will hold back upon the grain while the other roller will force it forward, the two rollers thus even ing the stream of grain.

The movable roller,havin g its ends j ournaled in the bearings at the lower ends of the pivoted arms, will be at perfect liberty to be opened wider from the stationary roller at one end than at the other, allowing stones, heads of grain, lumps of dirt, or any other obstruc tion or impurity to pass freely between the feed-rollers without clogging up the passage.

The tension of the springs bearing against the movable plate within the hopper may be adj ustcd by means of the thumb-nuts upon the screw-threaded rods, adjusting the tension according to the weight of the grain or middlings to be fed; and the tension desired for the smaller roller, to give it its desired yielding quality, may be adjusted by the thumb-nuts upon the rods extending from the bearingarms, the said thumb-nuts also serving to rogulate the distance between the two rollers.

By means of the long cogs upon the pinions at the ends of the rollers they will remain in mesh even when separated at different distances apart.

The feeder may be used, as shown in the drawings, in a mill having only one setofrollers, or it may be used with a mill having two sets of rollers when all parts are duplicated and placed on the other side of the vertical' end piece,which then becomes a partition, the latter form being the most generally used, the form shown in the drawings being shown on account of the other form merely containing duplications of the parts contained in the sin gle form.

The rollers cannot get sticky and clogged with dirt, as does the feeding mechanism in feeders having an adjustable feed-gate and no feed-rollers. The stream passing over the rcvolving rollers cleans them continually.

On account of the smaller roller being journaled in yielding bearings, any impurities or obstructions passing between the rollers will immediately pass out, instead of keeping the feed-aperture open, as they are liable to do with sliding feed-gates, which allow the grain to be fed in a larger quantity than desired, and in an uneven stream,which is one of the things most to be avoided in a roller-mill where an even feed is of the highest importance.

and the rollers may be smooth or fluted.

Having thus described my invention,I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a feeder for roller mills, the combination of a hopper having a feed-aperture at its lower end, a roller journaled at the feedaperture, a rock-shaft j ournaled in the sides of the hopper, a pair of upwardly-curved and a pair of depending arms secured to said shaft, said depending arms having bearings at their lower ends, a roller journaled inthe said bearings parallel to the other roller, and a pan secured to the ends of the upwardly-curved arms, as and for the purpose shown and set forth 2. In a feeder for roller-mills, the combination of a hopper having a feed-aperture at its lower contracted end, a roller j ournaled at the feedaperture and having a pinion at one end of its shaft, a rock-shaft journaled near one The smaller roller may be revolved or stationary,

inclined side of the hopper, upwardly-projectin g arms secured thereto, rods passing through the end piece of the hopper and pivoted to the upwardly-projecting arms, thumb-nuts upon their outer threaded ends, coiled springs interposed between the end piece of the hopper and the thumb-nuts, arms secured to the ends of the rock-shaft, bearings at their lower ends, a roller journaled in the said bearings, and a pinion upon the end of its shaft meshing with the pinion of the other roller, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a feeder for roller-mills, the combination of a hopper having a feed-aperture at the lower converging edges of the end pieces, a roller journaled at the said aperture, a pinion at one end of its shaft, a roclrshaft, an inclined plate supported therefrom, means for cushioning the said plate, arms secured to the ends of the said rock-shaft, having yielding bearings at their lower ends, a roller journaled in the said bearings, and a pinion at one end of its shaft meshing with the pinion upon the other roller, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

4. In a feeder for roller-mills, the combination of a hopper having a feed-aperture at the lower converging edges of its end pieces, a roller journaled at the said aperture bearing with its periphery against the lower edge of the inner end piece,"a pinion upon one end of its shaft, a rock-shaft, upwardly-inclined and inwardly inclined arms secured thereto, a plate secured to said inwardly-inclined arms, rods pivoted to the upwardly-inclined arms and passing through perforations in the end piece, springs coiled around them, thumb-nuts bearing against the said springs, arms pivoted with their upper ends upon the ends of the rook-shaft,havingbearings at their lower ends, a smaller roller journaled in the said bearings, a pinion at one end of the shaft meshing with the pinion of the other roller, outwardly and downwardly curved arms secured to the ends of the rook-shaft and having eyes at their lower ends, rods pivoted to the lower ends of the bearing-arms, coiled springs wrapped around them between the eyes and the arms, and thumb-nuts upon their outer ends bearing against the eyes of the curved arms, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELGIN L. OONKLIN. Witnesses:

E. P. GRAVES, S. T. Horn 

